Can you eat cottage cheese while pregnant?

What to avoid

• Level E CDC: Any type of cheese when made with (raw) unpasteurized milk (table «Safer Food Choices», column: Avoid) CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection, accessed 2026-10-12

Safer choices and when it is OK

• Level E FoodSafety.gov: Cottage cheese, cream cheese, string cheese, feta, and mozzarella, when made with pasteurized milk FoodSafety.gov, People at Risk: Pregnant Women, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Hard cheeses, Processed cheeses, Cream cheese, Mozzarella, Soft cheeses that are clearly labeled “made from pasteurized milk” (chart «Instead eat», Cheese row (list items joined)) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Hard or processed cheeses. Soft cheeses only if they are made from pasteurized milk. («Make Safe Menu Choices», Lower Risk) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E CDC: CDC recommends that everyone choose pasteurized milk and dairy products. CDC, Listeria and Soft Cheeses, accessed 2026-10-12

Word-for-word quotes from official US sources. Level E means the position of an expert body. How we grade evidence.

USDA FoodData Central, Cheese, cottage, lowfat, 2% milkfat. It has 92 calories. Daily Values are the standard adult label values, not pregnancy targets.

• Level C About one soft cheese sample in forty carried Listeria in a pooled estimate, and the studies disagreed enough that the authors warn against using the global number for risk assessment. J Food Prot, 2019
• Level C In pregnancy the same organism lands mostly in the third trimester, and that is the reason the advice about soft cheese exists at all. BJOG, 2022
• Level E According to the CDC, Cheddar and cottage cheese made with pasteurized milk are among the lower-risk choices for Listeria, which matters most in pregnancy, newborns and adults 65 or older. US CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection
• Level E In a 2026 US Listeria outbreak linked to soft fresh cheeses, including requeson sold as Mexican cottage cheese, 14 of 15 sick people were hospitalized and one died. FDA told pregnant people, adults 65 and older and the immunocompromised not to eat queso fresco-type cheese, including requeson. FDA, Outbreak Investigation of Listeria monocytogenes: Soft Cheese (June 2026), content current as of 2026-08-26

Levels: A is a meta-analysis of trials, B a randomized trial, C an observational study, D lab or animal work, E an expert position. How we grade evidence.

Check that the tub says pasteurized. CDC lists cottage cheese made with pasteurized milk among lower-risk choices for Listeria (Level E).

Be careful with fresh Latin-style cheeses sold near it. In a 2026 US Listeria outbreak linked to soft fresh cheeses, including requesón sold as Mexican cottage cheese, 14 of 15 sick people were hospitalized and one died (Level E). During that outbreak, FDA told pregnant people, adults 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems not to eat any queso fresco-type cheese, including requesón. Requesón is a Latin American fresh cheese, and the outbreak report did not assess regular pasteurized supermarket cottage cheese.

Half a cup of 2% cottage cheese has 12.1 g of protein and 113 mg of calcium.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level E According to the CDC, Cheddar and cottage cheese made with pasteurized milk are among the lower-risk choices for Listeria, which matters most in pregnancy, newborns and adults 65 or older. US CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection
2. Level E In a 2026 US Listeria outbreak linked to soft fresh cheeses, including requeson sold as Mexican cottage cheese, 14 of 15 sick people were hospitalized and one died. FDA told pregnant people, adults 65 and older and the immunocompromised not to eat queso fresco-type cheese, including requeson. FDA, Outbreak Investigation of Listeria monocytogenes: Soft Cheese (June 2026), content current as of 2026-08-26

Written from the agency positions and data on this page, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

• Cottage cheese: what the research says